FRAIKIN Group provides commercial vehicle
fleet services to private and public sectors
in 13 European countries, as well as Russia
and Saudi Arabia.
the now-accessible internet,
they can also connect to cloud
applications such as G Suite
and other business applications
available in Software as a Service,
including Salesforce or bespoke
applications implemented by
FRAIKIN Group IT teams.
More Flexibility
Another key aspect of this
thin-client effort involved 3270
TE client applets. While FRAIKIN
Group remained dedicated to
its thin-client virtual device
infrastructure vision, the company
still wanted users to have access
to mainframe screens. Traditional
client-based Java* client applets
didn't work with the Chrome
browser-the lynchpin of its entire
modernization program. Not having
Chrome-friendly 3270 TE could've
potentially scuttled the project.
After speaking with a business
partner, however, FRAIKIN Group
IT discovered the SysperTec
Group and the VWA module of its
Virtual Web Suite for IBM Z. With
VWA, which runs directly on the
mainframe, users can access 3270
applications such as TSO and
CICS* in 3270 TE mode in their
browser, which makes it appear
that mainframe applications are
running in the cloud alongside
G Suite. In fact, a direct Java-free
HTTPS connection exists between
20 // JULY/AUGUST 2018 ibmsystemsmag.com
the mainframe and the thin clients.
This has provided more flexibility
when presenting mainframe
applications. As Loubet explains,
"Some parts of an application
have the traditional mainframe
user interface, but there are also
newer components that are based
on web-application design and a
GUI. But users don't care. If they
need to access legacy applications
in Chrome, they can. And if they
need to interact with modernized
mainframe applications in Chrome,
they can do that too."
If external users need access to
the same mainframe resources,
they can use whatever device or
browser they choose. FRAIKIN
Group, however, wanted to
standardize its internal resources
to cut hardware costs, reduce
administrative overhead and
establish direct access to the
internet for its widely dispersed
branch offices.
"The reason why we opened
internet connections from each
branch was to allow them to use
advanced cloud applications,"
explains Loubet. "It would have
been very expensive to continue
using Microsoft technology-like
the OS and the Office suite-
because we would have had
to purchase more than 1,000
additional Microsoft licenses just
to upgrade."
Improved Services
There's more to this story
than money savings, though.
The company and its branch
offices can now communicate
via video conferencing along
with shared video tutorials
and training. In addition, the
company improved application
mobility and flexibility, and
everyone anywhere-with the
proper permissions, of course-
can safely use the company's
applications, even if they're not
using a Chrome browser.
And, thanks to SysperTec's
VWA, this includes access
to FRAIKIN'S traditional
green-screen applications, which
can be served up as either web
pages or web services. Because
VWA resides on the mainframe
host, the client doesn't need to
be modified.
"We wanted to improve the
services we provide to our
employees while also finding
a solution that would enable
us to avoid big IT costs from
other solutions, like Windows or
Office," Loubet remarks. "This
is key because we're always
growing and expanding our
reach with additional employees
and branch offices. This is why
we began looking for a modern
thin-client solution that also
supported 3270 TE."